David Dallas (born 28 August, 1982) is a New Zealand rapper and songwriter of

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

n and European descent. He began his career under the

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Con Psy, as part of the rap group Frontline, before changing his stage name to his birth name and pursuing a solo career.

Con Psy/Frontline Days

Dallas, performing under the name Con Psy, met producer Nick "41" MacLaren in 2001 in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

and they formed Frontline, a rapper/producer rap group and began recording material. In 2003, Dallas, performing as Con Psy, featured on

Scribe A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of Printing press, automatic printing. The work of scribes can involve copying manuscripts and other texts as well as ...

's popular single, " Not Many – The Remix!", along with Savage and

P-Money Peter Wadams (born 25 February 1978), better known by his stage name P-Money, is a New Zealand DJ and producer. In 2008 P-Money released the single "Everything", which featured the New Zealand R&B singer Vince Harder. The song reached num ...

. It reached #1 on the

New Zealand Singles Chart The Official Aotearoa Music Charts, formerly the Official New Zealand Music Chart (), is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The M ...

, and was certified Platinum in New Zealand and Gold in Australia. Frontline released their debut mixtape, ''What You Expect?'' in 2004, which sold over 1,000 copies without any formal broadcasting or distribution. Frontline then signed to Dirty Records, an

-based

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

founded by

and Callum August. In 2004, Dallas, as Con Psy, appeared on three tracks from

's second album, '' Magic City'': "Get Up Slow", "Get Back" (featuring Dirty Records labelmate PNC) and "321 Remix" (featuring Skillz and PNC). He also appeared on Breakin Wreckwordz's mixtapes ''Breakin Wreckwordz Vol 1.'' and ''Fuck Music'', DJ Sirvere's ''Major Flavour'' mixtape series and Louie Knuxx's debut album ''Wasted Youth''. Frontline released their debut studio album '' Borrowed Time'' on 31 October, 2005. It debuted at #27 on the New Zealand Albums Chart and went on to win 'Best Hip-Hop/Urban Album' at the 2006 New Zealand Music Awards. In February 2006, Frontline supported

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and television producer. Born in Queens, a borough of New York City, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 1996. In 1999–2000, ...

and

G-Unit G-Unit (short for Guerilla-Unit). was an American hip hop group formed by longtime friends and East Coast rappers 50 Cent, Tony Yayo, and Lloyd Banks. After amassing a string of self-released mixtapes in the early 2000s, the group released ...

on their New Zealand Tour. In March 2006, Frontline and

opened for

Linkin Park Linkin Park is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Agoura Hills, California, in 1996. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn, bass ...

Mike Shinoda Michael Kenji Shinoda ( ; born February 11, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and graphic designer. He co-founded the rock band Linkin Park in 1996 and is the band's co-lead vocalist, as well as rhythm guitarist, ...

and his side-project/band Fort Minor at their Australia and New Zealand tour dates.

Solo career

In 2007, Dallas’ changed his

from Con Psy to his birth name, David Dallas, and embarked on a solo career. He released his debut project, a 12 track

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

titled, ''The Artist Formerly Known As'', on 17 February, 2008, through Dirty Records. Dallas' debut solo

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

, ''Something Now'', was released on September 13, 2008, through Dirty Records and was supported by the single "Get Out The Way" (Remix) featuring Mr Sicc & Tek from R.E.S. Dallas' released his debut solo studio album, '' Something Awesome'', on August 31, 2009, debuting at #20 on the New Zealand Albums Chart. '' Something Awesome'' won 'Best Urban/Hip Hop Album' at the 2010 New Zealand Music Awards and was shortlisted for the inaugural

Taite Music Prize The Taite Music Prize is an annual New Zealand music award event. A prize of the same name (sometimes called the Taite Music Main) is one of five to be awarded. It recognises the best New Zealand album from the previous year. The prize is named ...

in 2010. The single "Big Time" received a co-sign from

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

. In late 2010, Dallas signed with

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

based record label

Duck Down Music Duck Down Music Inc is a New York City based record label, talent management, music-marketing, and consulting company founded by Drew "Dru-Ha" Friedman and Kenyatta "Buckshot" Blake in 1995. In Duck Down's 20-year existence, the company has rel ...

in a partnership deal with Dirty Records and Dawn Raid Entertainment, subsequently moving to

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

to record material for his second album. Dallas released his second solo studio album, '' The Rose Tint'' on May 11, 2011, as a free download. It was downloaded more than 50,000 times within the first six months of its release. Due to demand, a retail deluxe edition was released on 14 November, 2011, debuting at #3 on the New Zealand Albums Chart and becoming New Zealand's highest-selling

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

album of 2011. '' The Rose Tint'' was nominated for 3 awards at the

2011 New Zealand Music Awards The 2011 New Zealand Music Awards was the 46th holding of the annual ceremony featuring awards for musical artists based in or originating from New Zealand. Finalists for the three technical awards were announced in August 2011 with winners ann ...

and also shortlisted for the

in 2012. Dallas wrote and performed the entrance song for the Samoan

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

wrestling team

The Usos The Usos were a Samoan-American professional wrestling tag team which consisted of twin brothers Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso. They are signed to WWE, where Jey performs on the WWE Raw, Raw brand while Jimmy performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), Sma ...

, "So Close Now", which was released on 31 October 2011 via

WWE Music Group WWE Music Publishing, Inc., trade name WWE Music Group, is an American record label funded and operated by WWE, a division of TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It was manufactured and co-marketed by C ...

, accumulating over 15 million streams across streaming platforms to date. In September 2012, Dallas released his second solo

, ''Buffalo Man'', as a free download, with all songs inspired by, sampling or interpolating

Jamiroquai Jamiroquai ( ) are an English acid jazz and funk band from London. Formed in 1992, they are fronted by vocalist Jay Kay, and were prominent in the London-based funk and acid jazz movement of the 1990s. They built on their acid jazz sound in th ...

. Dallas' third studio album '' Falling into Place'' was released on October 18, 2013, debuting at #2 on the New Zealand Albums Chart. The album's lead single, " Runnin'", peaked at #7 on the

and was certified platinum. " Runnin'" was used in the official release trailer for '' Madden NFL 25'' and also featured in the official soundtrack for '' FIFA 14''. The official remix featuring

Jim Jones James Warren Jones (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978) was an American cult leader, preacher and mass murderer who founded and led the Peoples Temple between 1955 and 1978. Jones and the members of his inner circle planned and orchestrat ...

the Diplomats The Diplomats (also known as Dipset) were an American Hip hop music, hip hop collective formed in the summer of 1997 by childhood friends Cam'ron and Jim Jones (rapper), Jimmy Jones in Harlem, New York City. The group was originally composed of ...

was released on 20 December, 2013. It also features in the 2022

Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. Primarily a comedic leading actor in films, List of awards and nominations received by Adam Sandler, his accolades include an Independent Sp ...

film '' Hustle''. The second single, " The Wire'", featuring Ruby Frost, peaked at #11 on the

and was certified Gold. The album won 'Best Urban/Hip Hop Album' at the

2014 New Zealand Music Awards The 2014 New Zealand Music Awards was the 49th holding of the annual ceremony featuring awards for musical recording artists based in or originating from New Zealand. It took place on 20 November 2014 at Vector Arena in Auckland. The awards sho ...

and was

shortlisted A short list or shortlist is a list of candidates for a job, prize, award, political position, etc., that has been reduced from a longer list of candidates (sometimes via intermediate lists known as "long lists"). The length of short lists varie ...

for the 2014 Taite Music Prize. In February 2014, Dallas supported

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...

on the New Zealand leg of his Rapture Tour. Dallas received 4 nominations at the

, winning 'Best Male Artist' and 'Best Urban/Hip Hop Album'. Dallas' released his fourth studio album, ''Hood Country Club'', on April 21, 2017, debuting at #10 on the New Zealand Albums Chart. Dallas received 3 nominations at the

2017 New Zealand Music Awards The 2017 New Zealand Music Awards was the 52nd holding of the annual ceremony featuring awards for musical recording artists based in or originating from New Zealand. It took place on 16 November 2017 at Spark Arena in Auckland Auckland ...

, including 'Album of the Year', 'Best Hip Hop Artist' and 'Single of the Year' for lead single 'Fit In'. In mid-2021, ''The Rose Tint'' was released on vinyl and Dallas' embarked on a 4 date New Zealand titled '10 Years Deep' to commemorate the 10 year anniversary of the album. Dallas' released his third extended play, ''Vita'', produced by former Frontline member 41, on March 22, 2024, debuting at #23 on the New Zealand Albums Chart. Dallas' embarked on a 3 date New Zealand tour titled 'Fafo' with PNC in December 2024 in support of the EP.

Discography

Albums

Mixtapes

Remix albums

EPs

Singles

Awards

, - , rowspan="2" , 2010 , David Dallas – ''Something Awesome'' ,

, , - , David Dallas – ''Something Awesome'' , 2010 New Zealand Music Awards – Best Urban/Hip Hop Album , , - , rowspan="3" , 2011 , David Dallas – ''The Rose Tint'' ,

– Album of the Year , , - , David Dallas – ''The Rose Tint'' ,

– Best Male Solo Artist , , - , David Dallas – ''The Rose Tint'' ,

– Best Urban/Hip Hop Album , , - , rowspan="6" , 2012 , David Dallas – ''The Rose Tint'' ,

, , - , David Dallas – ''The Rose Tint'' , 2012 Pacific Music Awards – Best Pacific Male Artist , , - , David Dallas – ''The Rose Tint'' , 2012 Pacific Music Awards – Best Pacific Urban Artist , , - , David Dallas – "Take A Picture" (D Dallas/A Iustini/J Iustini/T Rowlands/E Simons) , 2012 Pacific Music Awards – APRA Best Pacific Song , , - , David Dallas – ''The Rose Tint'' , 2012 Pacific Music Awards – Best Pacific Music Album (Tui Award) , , - , Special Problems – "Take a Picture" (David Dallas) ,

2012 New Zealand Music Awards The 2012 New Zealand Music Awards was the 47th holding of the annual ceremony featuring awards for musical recording artists based in or originating from New Zealand. Finalists for the three technical awards were announced on 3 October 2012, th ...

– Best Music Video , , - , rowspan="5" , 2014 , David Dallas – ''Falling into Place'' ,

, , - , David Dallas – ''Falling into Place'' ,

– Best Urban/Hip Hop Album , , - , David Dallas – ''Falling into Place'' ,

– Best Male Artist , , - , David Dallas – "Runnin" ,

– Single of the Year , , - , Tom Gould – "Runnin" (David Dallas) ,

– Best Music Video ,

Notes

References

External links

Official websiteDavid Dallas Facebook Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dallas, David 1982 births Living people New Zealand male rappers New Zealand people of Samoan descent